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FCC Loses First Net Neutrality Battle

In what is sure to appease some people, it seems that the FCC has just lost the first net neutrality battle with Comcast. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has sided with Comcast by saying that the FCC does not have the authority to impose regulations on internet services providers under the current law. In 2008, the FCC ordered Comcast to stop filtering BitTorrent which Comcast replied with a suit saying the FCC did not have the authority. The FCC said it was using its "ancillary powers" which allow the agency to take the proper actions to do its job. There is no law giving the FCC this authority so it acted in the best way it saw fit. The FCC was interpreting its job as promoting net neutrality based on policy statements set up by Congress. To that end, the court said it was not good enough and ruled in favor of Comcast. The FCC is expected to appeal the court's decision while Congress will presumably set up a law allowing the FCC to actually do what it tried.